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Palm City Place patio completed after $1.75 million CRA project
Summary
A half‑acre patio at Palm City’s Central Park was completed after a roughly 13‑month construction project funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Commissioner Ed Gampe and the Martin County CRA. The site repurposes a stormwater treatment area and includes trails, a pavilion, a fishing pier and a lighted fountain.
Palm City — A half‑acre public patio inside Palm City’s 20‑acre Central Park has been completed as part of a community redevelopment project that cost about $1,750,000, officials said. Construction took roughly 13 months and transformed an overgrown stormwater retention area into a multipurpose public space.
The project, described as an outgrowth of Martin County’s Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) plan adopted in April 2002, includes a nature‑side walking trail, picnic areas, a shaded pavilion that converts into a bandstand, classic games such as ping‑pong and checkers, a freshwater fishing pier and a lighted fountain. Key funding came from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Commissioner Ed Gampe and the Martin County CRA, according to the presentation to county leaders.
The patio sits on about a half acre within Palm City’s Central Park and was designed to serve recreational, environmental and civic purposes. ‘‘This beautiful water body is busy working on our behalf,’’ CRA staff said, describing the site’s stormwater treatment function: runoff from the surrounding streets enters on the west side, percolates and is cleansed before flowing into the adjacent river.
Project staff and speakers said active planning on the parcel began in 2020 after years of the site being overlooked. The early concept for a welcoming green space emerged when CRA staff and a former neighborhood advisory committee member, Ken Natoli, sketched an initial idea during a conversation at the site of a dilapidated home that was later relocated.
Engineering design was led by Gian Grande Engineering, and De Pompio Construction handled construction work, speakers said. Presenters characterized the patio as a community anchor and a catalyst for future investment in Palm City, emphasizing the combination of environmental stewardship and public amenities.
The county presentation framed the patio as both a destination and functional infrastructure: an engineered stormwater treatment area reimagined as a landscaped water feature that provides aesthetic and water‑quality benefits while supporting gatherings and recreation.
Officials said the patio is intended to be a lasting neighborhood amenity and a demonstration of the CRA’s role in coordinating design, funding and community input for local redevelopment projects.
